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Samsung Galaxy S8

My existing phone contract recently came to an end and I was looking to upgrade. Finally just before Christmas managed to get a great deal on a Samsung S8 from a different company (Sky). And so far i couldn't be happier with it.

I had an S5 before and it was the most reliable phone I'd had to date. And it hadn't aged in terms of spec as badly as many I'd owned previously. But with only 16gb internal storage i started running low towards the end and had to keep moving apps to sdcard to free internet space. This often made the phone slow and meant i had to often clear app caches and occassional reboots to flush everything out.

The S8 with 64GB internal storage shouldn't have such issues, but I've still put a 64GB SDcard in to save images and video to anyway.

The curved screen took a bit of getting used to but now i love it. It's so big and the resolution is amazing. I tried a friend's new iPhone X and didn't think it was as good. Subjective really as both are great hardware. But even at a much lower price I think the S8 is technically further ahead. Definitely feels faster and smoother to me. Much prefer Android now than iOS. It's become very polished and slick and iOS feels dated now and a bit clunky.

If you are considering a new phone definitely look at the S8. Best I've used to date.

I also got an official case for it. Had one for the S5 and they fit much better than any after market case. Plus they support direct phone features. I got the SView clear case in blue. The front is semi transparent so you can see the always on display even when closed. So you can see the time and date all the time. It also shows notification icons and when the phone rings you can see who is calling and answer with the cover still closed. Nice feature. These cases are not cheap at around £30 but they are worth it.

I'm currently considering a wireless charging pad. But the bundled fast charger is good. It charges in about 15-20 minutes from 5% which is amazing. The usb charger built into some of my wall outlets by contrast take about 1.5 hours. Still not too bad when plugged in whilst watching tv or cooking.

One interesting device you can get for the S8 is the DEX station. This is intriguing. It's a docking station that charges the S8, but it also transforms the phone into a full blown desktop pc! You basically connect a usb mouse, keyboard and monitor to the DEX, then when you dock the S8 it appears on the monitor similar to Chrome OS. Obviously you are still only running Android apps but it's a nice ability to have. But at over £100 the Dex is a bit expensive for something that for me would just be a gimmick. Still tempted though! Lol

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!

The Galaxy phones look indeed very nice. Nothing against Android, but as we are using 2 iPads at home, she has iPhone 6s, it is just easier for me now just to have another IOS device. Not saying that itís better, but more convenient for me, as I know IOS quite well.

I agree with the comment on iOS feeling a bit dated. There have been a lot of features added over the years, but without any major review of the interface. There's a lot of dragging, holding, and swiping from different edges and it's not that cohesive anymore.

I did find though, when I moved to Android, that I missed the 'badges' on app icons - it's very easier to absent mindedly dismiss a notification from the Android notification shade.

Both need serious thought to the settings though. The iOS settings are just one big mess and the android settings are all over the place.

Vanilla Android settings are quite logical, but for some reason each manufacturer like to tinker with OS layout and always redesigns the settings screens. My old S5 was annoying but they seem to have left the S8 settings closer to default making it much easier to navigate.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!